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Friday, 21 February 2014

London Fashion Week

Despite London Fashion Week being famed for the most original and cutting-edge designers, there was a noticeable alignment of trends and ideas across some of the biggest names this week.

This made the job of spotting the trends fairly easy. It’s the wearing of them that may prove a little more challenging. Although the creativity was dazzling, I’m not yet convinced about how translatable some of the trends will be. Fans of minimalism, beware! There’s no avoiding the definite shift towards a ‘more is more’ look.

Matchy matchy layers at the Temperley London show at London Fashion Week AW14 (Picture: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)

All the big labels – Burberry, Temperley, Peter Pilotto, Giles – featured outfits with multiple, matching layers. The most common version of this trend was a matching scarf/coat combo, as seen at Burberry and, no doubt, this will be copied by the high street.

However, the matchy matchy-ness also appeared in other guises. Peter Pilotto’s use of matching mountain vistas across skirts, tops and coats was particularly lovely and, rather than feeling repetitive, gave the impression of a beautiful multi-layered painting. Similarly, Temperley showcased some lovely dress/scarf twinning.

2. Geometry

Geometric shapes on display at the Christopher Kane show at London Fashion Week AW14 (Picture: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)

Geometry, expressed through print, shapes and interesting textures, was present all over the catwalk this week. Perhaps the most original use of it was at Christopher Kane, where intricate origami-style folds featured on dresses to stunning effect.

Roksanda Ilincic and Jonathan Saunders also championed the geometric trend, integrating the concept into both print and cut. The nuance this season is that geometric shapes are appearing within the context of an overall softer, folkier look (more on this later) rather than the bold, monochrome style that has been around for the last few seasons (remember those black, white and yellow Louis Vuitton diamond shapes? We’ve moved on from those).

MORE: The highlights from day four of London Fashion Week

3. Royal blue and oxblood red

Beautiful blue at the Roksanda Ilincic show at London Fashion Week AW14 at The Old Sorting Office (Picture: Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)

These days, if Cara’s wearing it, it’s on trend. So her choice of a royal blue custom-Mulberry suit to launch her new bag is pretty telling – this colour is where it’s at. Royal blue was also a major colour trend at New York Fashion Week and, in London, it’s also been all over the catwalk. Thankfully, it’s an almost universally flattering colour, so embrace it!

Slightly more challenging is the emergence of the unappealingly termed oxblood red, a brown-ish, earthy tone, that many designers seem particularly taken with. Even the youthful, fresh-faced models look at little jaundiced in this colour. Perhaps one for accessories only?

Or maybe you fancy an oxblood red skirt, also seen at Roksanda Ilincic’s show for AW14 (Picture: AFP PHOTO / ANDREW COWIE ANDREW COWIE/AFP/Getty Images)

4. Multi-dimensional maximalism

Multi-dimensional maximalism on display at the Peter Pilotto show at London Fashion Week AW14 (Picture: Miles Willis/Getty Images)

You may despair at the name of this trend but maximalism alone isn’t enough to describe the direction many designers appear to be headed. Maximalism has truly landed and there’s a lot to it (as you’d expect).

If you’re Peter Pilotto, maximalism is about multiple textures, mega-bold prints and complex layering. If you’re Christopher Kane, it comes in the form of squeezing as many ideas as possible into one collection and doing all of them really, really well. If you’re Alice Temperley, it’s about doing your beautiful bohemian thing but ramping it up to another maximalist level.

In a way, it’s all a case of over-achieving designers packing in as many techniques, ideas and show-off pieces into the mix. Thankfully, the results are often beautiful and alluring, even to us minimalists.

When even the usually military-inspired Burberry unveils a collection full of dreamy prints and wafting, floaty fabrics, we know there’s change afoot. A trend seems to be emerging for earthy colours, textures (including some heavy wools that look like they may be a bit scratchy) and more fluid, draping shapes. It all feels decidedly folky, a bit historical and quite far removed from the more digitally driven prints and clean lines that have dominated the last few seasons.

Even Mary Katrantzou – famous for her digital prints – changed direction this season, using techniques such as crochet, heavy embroidery to create a strange regal/pagan mash up. How well this trend will translate to the high street is debatable. It relies on careful craftsmanship and detailing, plus expert pattern cutting to avoid feeling like fancy dress. I am predicting that we’ll be seeing quite a few initialed blankets at festivals this summer though.